I used to use Mini Discs all the time to record Howard Stern back in 2000 to 2003ish. I used it on 4 hour LP mode to record most of his show from 6am to 10am and listen to it later and trackmarkign it each time.

It was the greatest thing ever at the time, because Ipods were just coming out and they didnt have trackmark capability, so even if I did setup a computer to record the show, it was impossible to save my listening location on the Ipod. Now, in the last year or two, Ipods do this automatically when you pause, so I hav been using my Ipods for the last 2 or 3 years for this purpose.

I am cleaning out my apartment and I am not sure what to do with my Mini Disc deck, portable players, and discs. The Deck was a Sony deck that you could put a CD and rip it to MD format at a 4x rate of speed. I have 2 or 3 portable players, I think at least one or two work, and the other I kept for spare parts (like case hinge) because I broke these players every 6 months with daily use.

In retrospect I had a lot of fun with my MD players, I worked out and they were skip free versus my first 3G Ipod that skipped nonstop.

But now that the Nano is out, its not looking like I will ever touch these things again.

I am really trying to declutter my life and I have so much crap as a packrat so unless people here reply and suggest some use or tell me to save them, I will likely either trash it or ebay it. The problem is that I dont think anyone wants them anymore and I would be lucky to get $100 for the entire lot but then it would cost probably $30 shipping since its so big.

I am asking also if maybe I should save them, because I am 25 years old and maybe in 10 or 15 years I will wish I kept it? I was around when cassettes and VHS were out (although I wasnt alive when records and 8 tracks existed). And on that point, I never want to see another VHS ever again.

Supposedly MD offered a better audio quality than MP3s but thats only if you have the actual CD to make the MD from and all of my collection is in MP3 format so that doesnt apply to me.

I also havnt really been following it for a few years but the reason this ATRAC format failed was due to restrictions from Sony that would otherwise allow me to upload it to my apple computer. I might still use the MD for a personal recorder to record lectures or talks IF there was a way to upload the file and then edit it or save it without having to store mini discs.

I dont know, should I just dump it? Is it just good for nostalgia or are people using them for some purpose?

Hang on to them you'll be sorry if you dump everything.

if you dont use it lose it. If you have not touched something in 6 months then its time to get rid of it. someday you may miss it... such is life. If you do use it every 6 months or so then keep it for your enjoyment. my advise on keeping a clutter free house. but then i trash a lot of stuff.

what it boils down to is how much space is it taking up and what will you be gaining by getting rid of it?

snickersbar,

Technology moves on. If you sell the unused gear, you have cash which you can use for other practical purposes. Also, someone who wants the MiniDisc setup will get a chance to use it...

If you don't want to pay shipping, have the buyer pay for it, or simply sell to a buyer willing to do a local pickup.

Good luck,

- Steve O.

If you have any nice looking blanks, I'll buy them from you :)

I've been collecting blanks but most of the ones worth collecting are from Japan or the UK.

k30248@gmail.com

hi snickers, i am interested in MD stuff. can u please tell me where u r based and what you got.thanks.giki

Amazing ! I was just about to start a thread on the minidisc. I too have two component MD's recorders and a portable...thinking they were going to demolish the cassette...ya ! Looks like it's another Betamax for Sony.....Can someone give me a little history and why it never caught on like it could have. I'm keeping my stuff, and stocking up on blanks. Any thing to do with the price staying so high and only Sony the manufacturing the darn things ? Great quality recordings......my new Toyotas still came with CD/cassettes and I thought by now they would have MD players standard. So What happened ?
As "snickers" said, is it just a Sony "debacle" ?

I've had Sony, Pioneer, Alpine, Aiwa, Sansui, Sharp MD related equipment in the past. Manufacturing of MD disc is by Sony but also MPO and there was one more manufacture I think.

I think the world was not ready for the advance of MD at the time. Along with initial marketign the product as a plackback medium instead of recording. Also I belive that Sony cripped the MD format by being too worried about the failure of DAT in the mid 1980's and the RIAA, DAT tax. with the copy protection debate with Home Recording act of 1992 re: SCMS. Dividing the format to MD Audio and MD Data, I also think hurt it's chances as well... especially with the emergence of personal computers to store multimedia that started in the early 1990's when MD launched.

One word.

IPOD

Snickers,

Send me a PM. I might be interested in the deck if it works well.

Amazing ! I was just about to start a thread on the minidisc. I too have two component MD's recorders and a portable...thinking they were going to demolish the cassette...ya ! Looks like it's another Betamax for Sony.....Can someone give me a little history and why it never caught on like it could have. I'm keeping my stuff, and stocking up on blanks. Any thing to do with the price staying so high and only Sony the manufacturing the darn things ? Great quality recordings......my new Toyotas still came with CD/cassettes and I thought by now they would have MD players standard. So What happened ?
As "snickers" said, is it just a Sony "debacle" ?

No the format was a huge success for Sony in Japan. It beat out DAT and no doubt made a lot of money. I live in Japan and to this day see a lot of people on the train still using their portable MD players which at one point were saturated in the Japanese market. This is no small market of over 120 million middle class people btw. MD gear is still sold here in every electronics store aswell.

Keep it. Or sell it to someone who'll appreciate it.